How to Help Your Teen Choose a Career Path

Teenagers have a lot of decisions to make as they get older. One of these decisions is what they will study in college. This can be a difficult decision to make since there are so many options out there.

As my middle son heads off to college next week, I’m discovering how important it is to explore career paths as kids reach middle and high school.

This year, Emma is wrapping up middle school. I am working hard to help her explore her options for the future. She’s pretty sure she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. So, for now, we’re looking to explore that career path and others related to it over the next few years.

If you want to help your teen choose the right career for them, here are a few tips.

Help Your Teen Choose a Career Path

Explore Their Interests

What is your teen interested in? The first step to helping your teen choose a career to study is to ask that question. If your teen is interested in animals, look up career choices that include animal care or biology. If your teen is interested in helping others, a career in the medical field or teaching might be the right fit. Try to discover your teen’s interests and discover which careers fit with those interests.

Em has always had a passion for animals. She’s always wanted to be a vet. She’s also interested in grooming. Right now, she enjoys making gourmet dog treats for the neighborhood dogs. She’s a wonderful pet-sitter for the neighbor’s bunnies. We’re biding our time until she’s 14 and can start volunteering at the local animal shelter.

Job Shadow

Once your teen has an idea of what they’re interested in, you can set up a job shadow for them to test the career out. Talk to someone who is an expert in the field and see if your teen can come in once a week. This allows your teen to see the job in action, including the not-so-glamorous side of the job. After job shadowing, your teen will be able to make an informed decision on if this is the right career for them.

Isaac, my college freshman, was on the debate team in high school. Through that experience, he decided he wants to pursue a career in politics. He did some internships throughout high school which showed him the inner workings of city government.

Take a Class

In addition to job shadowing, taking a class in the field they’re interested in can really help your teen make a decision. Look into classes offered at your local community college. Sometimes they’ll have a class available for kids still in high school. You can also look into classes at a career academy. These schools are geared towards high school students who want to graduate and go straight into the work force. Taking a class offered at one of these places can help your teen discover if the career they’re interested in is something they want to pursue.

Our school district has a vocational school that offers career tracks. One track is a pre-veterinary track. Juniors and seniors in high school can attend the pre-vet classes. I’m not 100% sure that this is the path I’ll have Emma follow, but I am keeping in the back of my head for the future. In the meantime, I’m tailoring her science and math courses in a way that will prepare her for those classes just in case.

No matter what career your child picks, the best way to help them is to be supportive. Even if they choose something that you don’t understand, be there for them so that when things are tough or not going their way, they feel comfortable coming to you for advice. Having a support system in place will help your teen succeed, no matter what career they choose.

Comments

You are sharing some really great ideas here. I have two kids that have “no idea” what they want to be/do when they are older. I will be checking to see if my local college has career tracks you mentioned. They sound great!

I read this from the perspective of a parent of a college junior still trying to sort out major choices (I have a teen also but he kind of has a plan). I agree with the things you have written here. I think in addition to content/activities specific to particular career choices, it is more important than ever that kids work on the “general” skills that will help them stand out: problem solving, applying their common sense, basic social graces (for example many of my daughter’s peers quit jobs by texting the manager — no two week notice (which I realize may be excessive for fast food etc), no face to face convo, no “thank you for the opportunity.”). Enjoyed your post.

When my son (now a sophomore in college) was in high school, we encouraged my son to ask adults about their jobs. In addition to asking what they did for a living, he’d ask what they liked/didn’t like about the job, what skills and interests they had that led them to that career, and what types of personalities perform best in those jobs. This not only gave him a lot of helpful information, it also helped him develop great conversational skills.

I think these are all great ideas. My teen knows what college he wants to go to but he’s still unsure of his career path. I want him to find a job he loves so we’ve got to start looking at doing some of these.

Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday Linkup and I hope you linked up with our Pretty Pinterest Party too. Pinning to our linkup board and hope you found some great posts to visit this week!

We are in the thick of this as well with two teenage boys! A couple of things that we used, along with the things you mentioned, were career/interest inventories, and youtube. If you aren’t able to job shadow someone in the field, youtube has loads of videos you can watch of different careers in action. More than anything, though, what has helped my boys is being conscious about how they’re ‘made’. Yes this career is interesting to me, but do I want to sit at a desk all day? Things like that.